Air conditioner arrangement



Dec. 7, 1965 N. BAKOS AIR CONDITIONER ARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledAug. 28, 1964 Conditioned Air Inner Air Inventor Nikolaus Hair 05 /r (la! rI/{e/ Coolant Air ATTORNEY Dec. 7, 1965 N. BAKOS AIR CONDITIONERARRANGEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1964 In venwr Nikolaus BakesATTORNEY United States Patent 3,221,512 AIR CONDITIONER ARRANGEMENTNikolaus Bakes, lletzdorf, Germany, assignor to Heinrich NickelG.rn.b.H., lietzdcrf (Sieg), Germany Filed Aug. 28, 1964, Ser. No.392,306 14. Claims. (Cl. 62-28l) The present invention concerns an airconditioner arrangement and more particularly an arrangement of thistype for producing and maintaining a uniform temperature and humidity inrooms. conventionally, arrangements of this type include an evaporatorand a condenser and operate in such a manner that the air to beconditioned is guided in a stream along the evaporator of therefrigerator installation while a second air stream acting as a coolantis moved along the condenser for cooling the latter.

In known air conditioner arrangements of this type the two air streamsare produced by two entirely independently operating blowers or fanwheels, one of these fan wheels or blowers bein arranged across the pathof the air to be conditioned, and the other fan wheel or blower beingarranged across the path of the coolant air for the condenser. It isclear that the use of two entirely independently operating blowers orthe like results in a considerable investment of mechanicalinstallation, and in addition the arrangement of separate blowers or thelike calls for comparatively large space. Also, in such an arrangementit can easily occur that one of the two blowers or the like fails orstops without this being noticed whereby of course the efficiency of theentire air conditioning arrangement is greatly impaired and rapidlydecreased no matter whether the incident affects the cooling of thecondenser in the outer circulating coolant air stream or whether itaffects the velocity of the circulation of the air to be conditioned inthe internal circulation of air. Still another disadvantage ofconventional air conditioning arrangements is due to the fact that theevaporator and condenser of the refrigerating unit are bound to bemounted separately from each other because of the complete separationbetween the two different air streams. Consequently separate anddistinct means for draining condensate water collecting on the outsideor in the neighborhood of condenser and evaporator, respectively, areneeded. Finally, the separate construction of evaporator and condensercauses increased production cost.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide for an airconditioner arrangement which is free of the disadvantages of theconventional arrangements.

It is another object of this invention to provide for an arrangement ofthe type set forth in which the space requirements are reduced ascompared with conventional arrangements.

It is still another object of the invention to provide for an airconditioner arrangement of the above type in which an unnoticed drop ofthe effectiveness of the arrangement is prevented.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription.

With above objects in view the invention includes in an air conditionerarrangement including an evaporator and a condenser, in combination, ahousing means including partition means thereacross and a first air ducttherein for the flow of air to be conditioned and arranged along oneside of said partition means and having a first air inlet duct and afirst air outlet duct, and a second air duct in said housing means for aflow of coolant air and arranged along the other side of said partitionmeans and having a second air inlet duct and a second air outlet duct,said partition means having a transverse opening 3,221,512 Patented Dec.7, 1965 located between said inlet ducts and said outlet duct; and fanwheel means mounted for operation in said transverse opening of saidpartition means and having its plane of rotation transverse of both saidfirst and second air ducts, the area of operation occupied by said fanwheel means in said plane extending partly across said first air ductand partly across said second air duct, so that rotation of said fanwheel means causes said flow of air through both said first and secondair ducts simultaneously.

It will be seen that an arrangement as just stated results in aconsiderable saving of space for accommodating the operative componentsof the arrangement, and in addition, a reduction of the amount of airmoved along the outer circulation path or the internal. circulationpath, i.e. a drop in effectiveness of the arrangement cannot go byunnoticed but will be noticed immediately.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbe best understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevation of a box-shape air conditionerarrangement according to the invention, some portions of the front wallsof the housing being omitted in order to show interior parts;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation of the arrangement according to FIG. 1,the section being taken along line A-A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial, diagrammatic elevational view of certain componentsof the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2, at a larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a similar view as FIG. 3 showing a modification of thearrangement according to FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a partial elevational view of an arrangement according to FIG.3, the fan wheel being omitted.

An air conditioner arrangement according to the invention comprisesaccording to FIGS. 1 and 2 e.g. a box shape housing 1. The housing 1 islined with, or supplemented by, layers or port-ions of thermallyinsulating material 2 in a manner that, separated at least by partitionwalls 17 and 20, a first air duct 3 for the air to be conditioned and asecond air duct 4 for the coolant air are provided. The first duct 3 isprovided with an inlet duct portion 12 and an outlet duct portion 13while the second air duct 4 is provided with an inlet duct portion lltland an outlet duct portion 11. A conventional evaporator 5 is locatedacross the first air duct 3 while a conventional condenser 6 is arrangedacross the second air duct 4. In addition a conventional compressor mayalso be arranged in the outlet air duct 11 and constitutes together withthe evaporator 5 and the condenser 6 essentially the refrigerator unitof the arrangement.

In FIG. 2 the side of the arrangement which faces to the left may beconsidered the front side of the arrangement because conventionally theillustrated arrangement would be mounted in a window or the like in sucha manner that the front side with the inlet and outlet ducts Ill and 11communicates with the outside air while the opposite side with the inletand outlet ducts l2 and 13 is located inside the room or building forcommunication with the inside air. As can be seen, inside the housing 1.a blower or fan wheel 8 is arranged. behind and in a predeterminedrelation to the evaporator 5 and the condenser 6. These components ofthe actual refrigerator not forming a portion of the invention per seare shown only diagrammatically. The fan wheel 8 is driven by a motor 9.The first air duct 3 has substantially S-shape and is so arranged withinthe housing that it guides air sucked in through the inlet duct 12 inthe direction of the arrows through the upper portion of the areaoccupied by the fan blades during operation. On the other hand, thesecond air duct 4 which has substantially U-shape so arranged within thehousing that it guides the outer air from the inlet duct through thelower portion of the area occupied by the fan blades during operationand thereafter back to the outside through the outlet duct 11. Thus itcan be seen that the operation of the fan Wheel 8 produces two streamsof air completely separate from each other. The air stream in the airduct 4 is driven by the fan wheel 8 not only across the condenser 6 butalso past the compressor 7 of the refrigeration unit convenientlymounted in the duct 11 so that this air stream cools not only thecondenser but also the compressor 7. As can be seen the second outletair duct 11 is located above the second inlet air duct 10 so that, dueto the change of temperature which the air stream undergoes a favorablechimney effect is obtained whereby the efficiency of the air movingmeans is even improved. The opening of the inlet duct 12 is preferablylocated only a small distance above the floor of the room to which theair conditioning unit is assigned. The air to be conditioned and suckedin through the duct portion 12 is moved first across a large area dryfilter 14a and blown by the fan wheel 8 across the evaporator 5whereafter it is expelled through the first outlet air duct 13 at theupper face of the housing 1 through the opening 16. Between the fanWheel 8 and the evaporator 5 preferably another filter 14b is mountedwhich serves to clean outside air which may be admixed to the innercirculating air that is to be conditioned, as will be described furtherbelow. Moreover, it is advisable to arrange downstream of the evaporator5 some heating means for heating the air to be conditioned. Theseheating means may consist of an electric heater of conventional type 15aor of a radiator 15b heated by hot water or steam in a conventionalmanner. Thus it is possible to heat the air to be conditioned while itis treated. for reducing its humidity, or, when the refrigerator unit 5,6, 7 is switched off, only heating of the inner circulating air isdesired. It is further advisable to arrange within the opening 16 aplurality of Venetion blind type adjustable flaps 16'.

On the suction side of the fan wheel 8 a tiltable control or baffleplate 18 is mounted in a corresponding opening 19 provided in thepartition 17, 20 as can be seen from FIGS. 1-3. The bafile plate 18 canbe set to a position illustrated by FIG. 1 wherein its outer endspractically abut against portions 21', 21" of the partition so thatinflux of outside coolant air from the duct 4 into the stream of air tobe conditioned in the duct 3 is prevented. From this first position theplate 18 can be tilted e.g. manually by actuating the handle 180, intoadjusted positions whereby more or less passage of outer air through theopening 19 into the duct 3 is permitted. In this man ner, if desired, acertain renewal of the air-conditioned air in the internal circulationby admixture of fresh air from the outside can be achieved. It will beunderstood now that the above mentioned second filter 1411 may be advantageous in this type of operation. Preferably the axis of rotation ofthe plate 18 is aligned with the axis of rotation of the fan wheel 8 ormotor 9. If this is done, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the tiltableplate 18 can be utilized with great advantage for also correcting theflow of air through the operating area of the fan wheel. This isdesirable because, as illustrated by FIG. 3, ordinarily the inlet air isdeflected by the rotating blades of the fan wheel 8 from the direction Aof arrival in the direction of the rotation of the fan wheel, i.e.somewhat in the direction B to a direction of delivery as indicated bythe arrow C. However, by setting the bafiie plate 18 to an angularposition in a direction opposite to the rotation of the fan wheel 8 thisdiversion of the intake air from direction A to direction C can becounteracted.

As can be seen from FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, the evaporator 5 and the condenser6 of the refrigeration unit may be so constructed that the respectivefinned tubes 5' of the evaporator 5 are completely separated from thefinned tubes 6 of the condenser 6, in which case the partition 20 on thedelivery side of the fan wheel 8 is located between the duct 3 and theduct 4 and extends between the system of tubes 5 and the system of tubes6 forward substantially as far as to the motor 9 as shown in FIG. 3.However, it is also possible to construct the evaporator and condenserso that the tubes 5 of the former are directly connected with the tubes6 of the latter as is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 4. In thiscase it is necessary to arrange the partition 20' as illustrated in FIG.4 in such a manner that it projects like a comb between the finnedtubes. In both cases the partition 20 or 20 is made of material which isporous in order to permit passage of condensed water that may form onthese partitions. In this manner it is simpler to drain away such outercondensed water.

In some cases it is desirable to arrange matters so that the amount ofair to be conditioned conveyed by the fan wheel 8 through the first airduct 3 is diiferent from the volume of outer coolant air conveyedsimultaneously through the second duct 4. In this case the partition 20as shown in FIG. 5, although it otherwise corresponds to theillustrations in FIGS. 24, should be composed of two portions enclosingbetween each other an angle diiferent from with its apex located in linewith the center of the fan wheel. Then the sector of the fan area havinga smaller center angle is assigned to that duct Which is supposed tocarry a smaller amount of air. Of course, it is advisable and possibleto make at least one portion of this partition 20" tiltable oradjustable so that the ratio between the amounts of air carried throughthe two ducts 3 and 4 can be varied as may be desired.

The above described arrangement can be further improved if the blowerarrangement comprises a plurality of adjacent fan wheels, and if atleast the blades thereof are made of synthetic material and if at leastthe blades of the fan wheels are at least on the outside colored whiteso that heat is reflected and not absorbed thereby.

Although the above described examples all refer to a box-shaped airconditioner it will be understood that the principle of the inventionmay as well be utilized within other types of air conditioningequipment. The most important characteristic is that the two types ofair stream are moved simultaneously but separate from each other bymeans of one common blower or fan whee'l.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofan air conditioner arrangement of the type described differing from thetypes described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in anair conditioner arrangement including a single fan wheel for moving twoseparate air streams, it is not intended to be limited to the detailsshown, since various modifications and structural changes may be madewithout departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily [adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an air conditioner arrangement including an evaporator and acondenser, in combination, a housing means including partition meansthereacross and a first air duct therein for the flow of :air to beconditioned and arranged along one side of said partition means andhaving a first air inlet duct and a first air outlet duct, and a secondair duct in said housing means for a flow of coolant air and arrangedalong the other side of said partition means and having a second airinlet duct and a second air outlet duct, said partition means having atransverse opening located between said inlet ducts and said outletducts; and fan wheel means rotating substantially in one plane forblowing during rotation air in direction substantially normal to saidmeans, said fan wheel means basing mounted for operation in saidtransverse opening of said partition means and having its plane ofrotation transverse of both said first and second air ducts, the area ofoperation occupied by said fan wheel means in said plane extendingpartly across said first air duct and partly across said second airduct, so that rotation of said fan wheel means causes said flow of airthrough both said first and second air ducts simultaneously and in thesame direction.

2. In an air conditioner arrangement including an evaporator and acondenser, in combination, a housing means including partition meansthereacross and a first air duct therein for the flow of air to beconditioned and arranged along one side of said partition means andhaving a first air inlet duct and a first air outlet duct, theevaporator being located at least partly along said first air duct so asto be exposed to said. flow of air, and a second air duct in saidhousing means for a fiow of coolant air and arranged along the otherside of said partition means and having a second air inlet duct and asecond air outlet duct, said partition means having a transverse openinglocated between said inlet ducts and said outlet ducts, the condenserbeing located at least partly along said second air duct so as to beexposed to said flow of coolant air; and fan wheel means rotatingsubstantially in one plane for blowing during rotation air in directionsubstantially normal to said means, said fan wheel means basing mountedfor operation in said transverse opening of said partition means andhaving its plane of rotation transverse of both said first and secondair ducts, the area of operation occupied by said fan wheel means insaid plane extending partly across said first air duct and partly acrosssaid second air duct, so that rotation of said fan wheel means causessaid flow of air through both said first and second air ductssimultaneously and in the same direction.

3. In an air conditioner arrangement including an evaporator and acondenser, in combination, a housing means including partition meansthereacross and a first air duct therein for the flow of air to beconditioned and arranged along one side of said partition means andhaving a first air inlet duct and a first air outlet duct, theevaporator being located at least partly along said first air duct so asto be exposed to said flow of air, and. a second air duct in saidhousing means for a flow of coolant air and arranged along the otherside of said partition means and having a second air inlet duct and asecond air outlet duct, said partition means having a transverse openinglocated between said inlet ducts and said outlet ducts, the condenserbeing located at least partly along said second air duct so as to beexposed to said flow of coolant air, air flow control means beingmounted in said transverse opening for causing when desired a cross-flowof air from said second inlet duct into said first inlet duct; and fanwheel means mounted for operation in said transverse opening of saidpartition means and having its plane of rotation transverse of both saidfirst and second air ducts, the area of operation occupied by said fanwheel means in said plane extending partly across said first air ductand partly across said second air duct, so that rotation of said fanwheel means causes said flow of air through both said first and secondair ducts simultaneously.

4. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein said air flow controlmeans is a tiltable closure member having its axis of rotation insubstantial alignment with that of said fan wheel means and beingmounted on the intake side of said fan wheel means, said closure memberbeing movable between a position in which said crossflow is subject tomaximum obstruction, and positions in which said cross-flow is permittedto varying degrees.

5. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein said partition meansinclude on the output side of said fan wheel means partition wallsextending in planes directed radially from the axis of rotation of saidfan wheel means so as to determine which portion of the total air suckedin by said fan vheel means is to flow into said first air outlet ductand into said second air outlet duct.

6. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein said partition meansinclude on the output side of said fan Wheel means partition wallsextending in planes directed radially from the axis of TvtZtfiOIl ofsaid fan wheel means so as to determine which portion of the total airsucked in by said fan wheel means is to flow into said first air outletduct and into said second air outlet duct.

7. An arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein said partition meansinclude on the output side of said fan wheel means partition wallsextending in planes directed radially from the axis of rotation of saidfan wheel means so as to determine which portion of the total air suckedin by said fan wheel means is to flow into said first air outlet ductand into said second air outlet duct.

8. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed water.

9. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed water.

10. An arrangement as claimed in claim 4, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed water.

11. An arrangement as claimed in claim 5, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed water.

12. An arrangement as claimed in claim 6, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed Water.

13. An arrangement as claimed in claim 7, wherein said partition meansare at least partly made of porous material capable of permittingpassage of condensed water.

14. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, wherein said fan wheel meansinclude an assembly of rotatable blades made of synthetic material andhaving a substantially white color for reflecting heat radiation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,212,050 8/1940Samuelson 230-47 2,780,929 2/1957 Roseman 62--427 2,836,123 5/1958Banerian 103-96 WILLIAM J. WYE, Primary Examiner.

1. IN AN AIR CONDITIONER ARRANGEMENT INCLUDING AN EVAPORATOR AND ACONDENSER, IN COMBINATION, A HOUSING MEANS INCLUDING PARTITION MEANSTHEREACROSS AND A FIRST AIR DUCT THEREIN FOR THE FLOW OF AIR TO BECONDITIONED AND ARRANGED ALONG ONE SIDE OF SAID PARTITION MEANS ANDHAVING A FIRST AIR INLET DUCT AND A FIRST AIR OUTLET DUCT, AND A SECONDAIR DUCT IN SAID HOUSING MEANS FOR A FLOW OF COOLANT AIR AND ARRANGEDALONG THE OTHER SIDE OF SAID PARTITION MEANS AND HAVING A SECOND AIRINLET DUCT AND A SECOND AIR OUTLET DUCT, SAID PARTITION MEANS HAVING ATRANSVERSE OPENING LOCATED BETWEEN SAID INLET DUCTS AND SAID OUTLETDUCTS; AND FAN WHEEL MEANS ROTATING SUBSTANTIALLY IN ONE PLANE FORBLOWING DURING ROTATION AIR IN DIRECTION SUBSTANTIALLY NORMAL TO SAIDMEANS, SAID FAN WHEEL MEANS BIASING MOUNTED FOR OPERATION IN SAIDTRANSVERSE OPENING OF SAID PARTITION MEANS AND HAVING ITS PLANE OFROTATION TRANSVERSE OF BOTH SAID FIRST AND SECOND AIR DUCTS, THE AREA OFOPERATION OCCUPIED BY SAID FAN WHEEL MEANS IN SAID PLANE EXTENDINGPARTLY ACROSS SAID FIRST AIR DUCT AND PARTLY ACROSS SAID SECOND AIRDUCT, SO THAT ROTATION OF SAID FAN WHEEL MEANS CAUSES SAID FLOW OF AIRTHROUGH BOTH SAID FIRST AND SECOND AIR DUCTS SIMULTANEOUSLY AND IN THESAME DIRECTION.